McShea's Say: McGuinness can lift both the Donegal team and the county

The news that Jim McGuinness is to become Donegal’s next manager is a real boost for football and all followers in the county, and Jims’s appointment will be welcomed with open arms.

County chairman Fergal McGee and his interview board deserve much credit for getting the Glenties man back on board and for bringing the process to such a satisfactory conclusion so quickly.

There are two similarities between this appointment and when Jim first took the reins in July 2010. Donegal were not going well after a morale-sapping defeat in Crossmaglen against Armagh before his first coming. And it’s fair to say there was much gloom in the county after Donegal’s defeat to Down and subsequent loss against Tyrone in this year’s championship after relegation to Division 2.

It is a real plus to see that Colm McFadden and Neil McGee are part of McGuinness’s backroom team and their experience coupled with the new manager's expertise will make a most formidable management outfit.

It is also good to see the new team in situ just as the club championship is about to take off and any player with inter-county potential will no doubt get a fair chance to stake his claim for inclusion when the manager's first panel is announced.

I believe that personality must be the key factor in managerial success. It is not a question of being a nice man or a nasty one, of being likable or aloof, of being imaginative or cautious, hard, or indulgent in discipline.

All these things are subordinate to the essential quality that all the most successful managers have, the capacity to dominate. This is a steeliness in a man’s makeup, the will to make his methods tell. The successful manager may have all kinds of talent, but to stay successful he needs to be very close to indomitable.

In leading Donegal to our second-ever All Ireland in 2012 the essence of McGuinness’s handling of the Donegal team had been exactly the opposite of a gambler’s manner. He aimed very successfully at removing risk. He also had an awareness that the nature of the opposition was crucially important to the composition of his own team. He applied the principles that success was overridingly important, and that attractiveness was incidental.

He did not give his players titles or positions; he gave them jobs. He had a clear picture in his mind of a team in movement. It would be wrong to suggest that Jim would ever ignore flair in preference for physical strength and work rate, what he looked for was maximum effectiveness not from 15 but 20 players.

And then he had some players he clearly regarded as central to his purpose because talent and character fused in them. Because of his outstanding success in his previous tenure as Donegal's manager, maybe there are some who are not fully aware of his footballing ability.

He was a very good player, and when he became his county’s manager his first duty was to help his team to win an All-Ireland, and this achievement was a telling indication of his managerial insight.

After difficult times in Donegal GAA the county was badly in need of some positivity. McGuinness being appointed as our new manager will be welcomed by every one of Donegal’s very loyal fan base.

Gaelic games are closely tied to community and identity, to our sense of self , even our self-worth. That is why thousands of people crammed into the Diamond in Donegal town to welcome home Donegal as All-Ireland champions back in 2012. Because of these footballers, the people of Donegal valued their identity, their community, and themselves.

They wanted to thank Jim McGuinness and his players for that. Things have taken a turn for the better in Donegal this week, and it is special to have one of our favourite sons back at the helm.